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Essential workers would be allowed to bubble with another household to provide childcare if they don’t have an existing arrangement, according to plans the Cabinet is discussing.
The ministers, who are meeting to discuss other ways to stop the rise in Covid-19 infections, are also examining a proposal that would allow all Leaving Cert students to attend school three days a week from next. week.
It is understood that the Minister of Education, Norma Foley, has pushed for the option of allowing sixth-year students to attend school part-time to ensure that they can keep up with planned summer exams.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that it is the Government’s firm intention that the traditional Leaving Cert exams take place next June.
This year’s student cohort lost three months of school enrollment last year and there is a recognition that further losses could result in a return to the controversial computed grade system used last year.
The meeting is against the backdrop of a significant increase in cases of the disease and with hospitals in general and intensive care units under pressure. Another 5,325 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 17 deaths were reported on Tuesday and the number of hospitalized people receiving treatment for the disease hit a new high of 921 on Wednesday.
Vulnerable
Child care services, including regulated caregivers and other child care arrangements, will be allowed to continue to provide services, but only for vulnerable children and the children of essential workers.
It is understood that non-essential construction work must finish by 6pm on Friday. However, plans continue to allow what sources described as a “very limited” subset of construction activity.
Social housing work that is nearing completion will be allowed, but only if it meets established criteria, the sources said. Large infrastructure projects, which are understood to include those for the National Children’s Hospital and large school construction projects, will continue, and emergency maintenance or repair work will be allowed to continue by plumbers, electricians and construction workers. gas.
The Cabinet is also expected to approve plans later to close schools for most students. Proposals under consideration include keeping special schools and special classes in mainstream schools open for some 15,000 students.
However, the plan is likely to meet opposition from some unions. Andy Pike, director of education for the Forsa union, which represents the majority of special needs attendees, said that reopening schools and special classes as usual “presents challenges that simply cannot be met.”
He said the supports for these students last year were provided by summer programs and remote supports. The union will meet tonight to discuss the government’s decision, which is due this afternoon.
Capacity
Private hospitals have indicated that they are willing to support the State during a Covid-19 surge, but that limited capacity will be available, Cabinet will be informed. They also called for the HSE to negotiate individually with hospitals on the provision of capacity, rather than as a group.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly will tell colleagues that the Private Hospital Association and the consultants who work with them wanted to get back to their regular business of providing scheduled care to private patients.
He will tell Cabinet that the association has indicated that its members are open to supporting the state in the event of a further increase, and requested more information on how a deal would be structured.
Party leaders, ministers and senior health officials met for more than six hours on Tuesday. They later agreed to recommend new restrictions, including extensive additional travel measures that will mean that all passengers arriving in the Republic from any country will have to provide a negative Covid-19 test from the previous 72 hours.
Travel ban
The travel ban from Britain and South Africa is expected to be lifted next Saturday. But passengers must provide a negative PCR test for the previous 72 hours and isolate for 14 days upon arrival. This requirement will then be extended to all incoming passengers.
The Cabinet Covid-19 subcommittee also heard that the new UK variant of Covid-19 now accounts for 25 percent of all tests sampled.
In retail, the click-and-collect service is likely to be discontinued in what will be a major blow to the industry. In relation to childcare, daycare centers will remain open to essential and frontline workers.
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